Higurashi no Naku Koro ni Koi
by Badfoo
Summary: When Rena changes for the worse and wears Keiichi to the bone, what will Keiichi's true love do? KeichiixMion
1. Prologue

Prologue

"Mion…why?"

"Loving me is no longer an option Keiichi-kun," Mion said softly, more to herself than to Keiichi.

"Mion…I have…"

_Stab._

"YOU HAVE WHAT?!?" Mion screamed.

Rena's body was silently huddled in the corner. Her fingers were nailed to the wall. _Was she hung from her fingers?_ Keiichi had thought. Keiichi figured Mion must have nailed each of the fingers of Rena's right hand to the wall then told her she could leave if she got down… From where Keiichi was, he could see Rena's face. A look of confusion was forever set on her face.


	2. Chapter 1 Toy Store Tantrum

Toy Store Tantrum

"I've missed you so much, Mion!" Shion exclaimed hugging her.

"I missed you too…" Mion said quietly, reluctantly accepting Shion's hug.

"Oh, what's wrong?" Shion asked.

Mion looked down. They shared a long silence. Then, a glimpse of tears appeared in Mion's eyes.

"Okay, that's it. Come inside." Shion said, almost dragging Mion into her apartment. "I can tell we need to talk."

They walked to the kitchen. Mion sat quietly as Shion made tea and told her about her recent trip to Tokyo. She went on and on about a boy she met. He must've been Satoshi, Shion told Mion. He had the exact face. This Satoshi showed Shion through the entire city, taking her everywhere; the best restaurants, the most memorable places, and especially the highest point in the city. She could see the entire city. On her last day, this Satoshi took her to a nice, quant place where she got a massage and her feet cleaned with some fish she just couldn't remember the name of. It was on the tip of her tongue, but she just could not find it…

"Here you go. Drink it, please," Shion said giving Mion tea. Mion took but merely stared into the cup.

"…"

"Okay, Mion, you have to talk to—"

Mion interrupted, "It's horrible! Why? Why can't he see me the same way I see him?"

"Who?" Shion asked. She knew the answer but she had to cope with her sister's current state.

"Keiichi…I…I love him…" Mion said softly.

"What?!? You haven't told him?" Shion almost yelled, getting out of her chair.

Shion had told Mion to do one thing over her trip to Tokyo; Mion had to tell Keiichi how she felt.

"I was going to… I'm sorry…" Mion said, still looking into her tea.

"What happened?" Shion said pouring herself some more tea.

"Rena… She's what happened. Once you left, Keiichi and Rena started spending a lot of time together. They went to the city to shop, eat, everything. Now, they're a couple. They've been seeing each other about two months now," Mion explained.

"I can't believe how much I've missed…" Shion said to herself.

"But, Shion, that's not the worst thing. Rena's changed. She's completely different. She is super dependent on him. Keiichi is wearing himself down to the bone helping her with everything. His parents are always visiting different places so he has to help her with all she needs. And believe me, she needs everything. Rena's father has re-married and Rena's is not happy about it. She hates being with the woman he married so she is rarely at her house. Keiichi is missing countless days of school from being over exhausted."

Shion didn't know what to say. Rena was never one to be like that. She loved making food for people. She was, in Shion's opinion, the nicest person in the club. Probably the nicest person Shion had ever met. How could Rena become so dependent that she forgets about Keiichi's needs? Shion was dumbfounded.

"I know I'm better for Keiichi, Shion," Mion said sadly.

"You have to do something, Mion. Something…" Shion told her.

"Keiichi, I need more toast!" Rena ordered. She was sitting at the table. There were at least ten pieces of toast in front of her.

Keiichi sighed, "What about the toast in front of you, Rena?"

"This toast?!?" she screamed. Then, she suddenly changed her voice, a very cute voice, "May I have more toast please, please?"

"Oh, Rena, don't give me that! You have toast!" Keiichi mumbled, "I wake up so early for what…?"

"Let's go, Keiichi! We're going to be late!" Rena screamed. Somehow, she was already out the door.

"Rena!!" Keiichi yelled. He scrambled to clean up and raced after her.

They walked hand in hand to where they meet Mion every school day.

"Hi guys!" Mion said, waving. "Rena, how has Keiichi been treating you? Don't tell me I have to punish him."

"Hey! What are suggesting? I beat her or something?" Keiichi asked, slightly raising his voice.

Mion giggled and ran inside the school. Keiichi sighed and led Rena in. She was oddly quiet all the way to school. Rena walked ahead of Keiichi and went into the classroom. Two young girls who quickly shushed her, most likely Satoko and Rika, greeted her quietly. Without thinking, Keiichi walked through the open door. Just then, a chalk eraser fell on his head causing chalk dust escape into the air.

"S-Satoko!" Keiichi coughed.

"Oh-ho-ho! Keiichi, you are so easy to trick! How many times have I gotten you with that one? Oh! Too many times, Keiichi!" Satoko laughed.

"Yes, it is true, Keiichi-kun. Satoko has done that many times and each time you fell into it perfectly. Keiichi-kun, don't be discouraged. You will win some time," Rika said soothingly.

"Okay, class, let's get started," Chie-senpai said, walking into the classroom.

Class went on slowly that day. No one needed any extra help so Chie-senpai simply gave everyone more problems to try and see if they actually knew everything. After countless hours of practice problems, school was finally finished.

"Well, that was endless!" Mion yawned as she stretched in her chair.

"Tell me about it…" Keiichi said still looking at his paper.

"So, Keiichi-kun, what are you planning to do today?" Mion asked leaning over his desk.

Rena spoke up, keeping an aura of happiness, for the first time that day, "_We_ were going to go downtown. Do you want to come, to come?"

Mion was surprised. Rena didn't usually invite people to her outings with Keiichi.

"Sure! I'd love to!" Mion said loudly.

Mion thought, _Maybe_ _if I am lucky, I will be able to get some time alone with Keiichi and tell him how I feel… Yes, I'm going to tell no matter what if that happens._

"Cool! The more the merrier!" Keiichi said getting up.

The three of them—Rika and Satoko were not up for going because Rika wasn't feeling very well—went on their bikes to the city. There, they went to the supermarket to pick up groceries, to the clothing boutique for some casual shopping, and last, they were at the game shop only because they have some time to waste. It was at that shop that everything started.

"Keiichi-kun! Look at these!" Rena screeched. She was talking about some key chains with small animals like frogs and unicorns. "They are so cute!!! I'm going to take them home!!"

"Oh Rena! You're so crazy. You can't take them home. We don't have enough money left. I'm sorry…" Keiichi said quietly, frightened.

"What?!?" Rena yelled. Her mood was completely different all of a sudden. Mion know something bad was going to happen. Someone was going to get hurt. "What do you mean 'not enough money'? We have been shopping all loosely today and you didn't save enough money for to get one thing! What the hell is wrong with you, Keiichi? Do you think that I'm not good enough to have _one_ key chain?" Rena gasped. "You don't think I'm good enough for you!"

"What? Rena, what are talking about? I bought you that new skirt today. And what? You're thinking very illogically… Rena, please don't do something like this…" Keiichi pleaded.

"Do what? I'm worried about our relationship, Keiichi-kun!! Do you care about me? Of course not! You don't care at all. You probably care about anyone here more than me. Mion! I see! You're cheating on me with this bitch!"

That was the last straw. Who did Rena think she was to call Mion horrible things and cause such a commotion here?

"Rena! Stop!" Keiichi yelled.

Mion left. She could not handle seeing Keiichi tortured by Rena any longer. She had to do something drastic. Something…

She walked home and collapsed onto her bed. Still red with anger, she went into her kitchen.

_Something has to be done…Keiichi deserves to be happy…Keiichi deserves to be with me_, Mion thought.

________________________________

"Oh my goodness! Mion!" Shion squealed as she opened the door to her apartment. She had yet to return to school but she planned to come back in a couple days. "Did you tell Keiichi? You have to tell me all the de—"

Shion's eyes darkened and she fell to the ground.

Shion's last image: a pair of legs, laughing maniacally.


	3. Chapter 2 The Meeting

"Good morning, Rena. It's time to get up," Keiichi said, gently rocking her until she rose.

"Good morning, Keiichi-kun," Rena said dazedly. "What time is it? What day is it?"

"It's Saturday. It's about 11 in the morning. Shion is calling and she wants to talk to you." Keiichi walked across the room, got the phone and said, "Here she is, Shion."

When Rena was handed the phone, she greeted Shion and they talked casually for about 10 minutes. Keiichi left the room and went to cook breakfast. He had woken up early that day because he had some shopping to do for Rena. He felt bad not being able to buy her the key chain the day before so he was going out to get a present and the key chain.

"Okay, bye Shion. I'll see you in a little," Rena finished. "Yup, I'll bring some money too. Bye!"

"You and Shion having a get together today?"

Rena's voice answered from the bathroom, "Yeah, she wants us to catch up since she's just gotten back from Tokyo. I'm going to meet her at the café in town."

"Anyone else going to be there?"

Rena stopped in the hallway and stared at the door. "Mion is sick with a cold. She's stuck up in her room sleeping."

Keiichi could not see the somewhat sinister smile on Rena's face.

"Really? I better remember to give her a call…"

The smile fell.

"Why? Why would you call her? Call her?" Rena asked.

"Because she's my friend. If she's not feeling well she's probably alone and wants someone to at least communicate with her, you know?"

There was a long silence. Keiichi continued to cook at the stove. Scrambled eggs, French toast and a few strips of bacon.

"Goodbye, Kei-kun."

"Goodbye."

And then, it was completely silent. Keiichi was absolutely alone. He could finally relax, right? Wrong. He had to make sure everything was spotless. An angry Rena is a bad Rena. He finished eating breakfast and quickly cleaned the kitchen. He moved to his room. He lazily picked the articles of clothing on the floor, dusting a few things here and there. He arrived at his desk.

The only things that could be found on Keiichi's desk were a picture of him and Rena, another picture of him and Mion, his lamp and homework almost everyday. Today though the picture frame that held the picture of Mion and him was gone.

_I must have misplaced it somehow_, Keiichi thought.

Rena walked briskly down the road toward the city. She decided to walk because she had started feeling fat. She had to look her best to keep Keiichi from straying. She loved him. Fear gets the better of anyone. Especially the fear of losing love.

Walking down the road, Rena could not stop thinking about Keiichi. His soft chocolate brown hair, his sweet eyes, his touch…

"I can't believe that Mion!" Rena said to herself. She looked around and saw she was attracting attention.

_Mion is trying to steal my Keiichi. He is mine. I made my move. I even changed to be exactly what he wanted. He loves a strong-willed woman that he can pamper. That's what I have become, right? I couldn't stay that sweet Rena that loved everyone. There are people that are trying to get my Keiichi. Mion…Shion…maybe even Satoko! I have to save my Keiichi from their filthy, greedy hands. I love Keiichi. Does he love me? Of course he does! How could I think not? I've done so much. Everything I've done in the last couple months was for him. I even invited that awful Mion yesterday. They used to be so close. Keiichi has been missing her so I invited her. Anything to keep Keiichi happy… But she was getting too close to him. I had to stop it. She needed to leave._

"Hi, Rena!"

Rena jumped. She was so deep in thought she hadn't noticed that she was at the café.

"Hello, Shion. How have you been?" Rena asked. Shion had become one of Rena's closest friends ever since she had started going to Hinamizawa's school. Rena always felt she could say anything to Shion.

"I've been great. How about we go in and talk for a little?" Shion gestured inside.

Once they were inside and had ordered, Shion asked, "How have you been?"

"Okay, I guess. Can I ask you something, Shion?" Rena inquired.

"Of course. Anything."

"Does your sister love Keiichi? Does she?" Rena asked flatly. The emotion seemed to leave Rena completely.

"W-Well that came out of nowhere. Where is this coming from Rena?" Shion asked.

"Lately, Mion has been unbearable. Always talking to Keiichi, wanting to come with us—Keiichi and I—wherever we go. It's unbelievable. I've even stopped talking to her lately. She's trying to steal Keiichi from Shion. And I can't let that happen. I love him. I always have and always will."

There was a silence that wavered even after their coffees came.

Rena broke the silence with a soft murmur, "You haven't answered my question."

"What was it? I'm sorry." Shion wanted to play dumb.

"You know exactly what the question was. Don't evade the question. Answer it and we can get on with our little whatever-this-is today." Shion had never seen Rena like this.

Shion looked into her cup of coffee. It was half-empty…Shion just couldn't see it half-full…

Shion quietly said, "I would suppose she does. She loves everything about him. I—"

"Stop!" Rena yelled. Everything seemed to stand still. Another silence rose, this time throughout the restaurant.

"Look, Rena, let's go back to my place, okay?" Shion asked, getting up.

"Sure!" Rena exclaimed, jumping up in excitement.

_Why is she so happy all of a sudden?_ Shion thought.

"Oh no! I completely forgot! My grandmother told me to pick something up from her house today and I'm so late! Do you mind if we go there instead?" Shion explained.

"Oh, sure. That's fine." Rena said with a smile.

They briskly walked back to Shion's grandmother's house. They walked inside, greeted everyone in the house and talked casually in the kitchen for a long time, moving from topic to topic. After 30 minutes of talking (with a pause for Shion to say to goodbye to everyone as they left), they arrived at the topic of Shion's trip.

"It was really exciting. All the buildings and lights made it seem like day even at night!" Shion said pouring more tea.

"Really? Oh, how I'd love to see it. I'm thinking about going with Keiichi some time later."

"I saw someone that looked like Satoshi too… It really made me feel good. I'm glad I met this person."

"Well, that's just great. Closure, I guess. I don't really know but I think." Rena seemed distracted.

"Rena, how are you and Keiichi doing? You know, as a couple?" Shion had been wondering.

"Shion, during your trip, did you, I don't know, ever come back? Come back?"

"Come back? What do you mean?"

Rena got up and began walking around the kitchen. She opened some drawers, moved some thing around, and then put them back.

All the while saying, "I was walking through town and I saw you. 'It can't be her,' I told myself. But I got closer it was you. You… you were walking with Keiichi. I was really confused. I going to go treasure hunting when I saw you walking down the main street. You and Keiichi looked happy and were laughing. How, Shion?"

"I don't know what you're talking about. I was in Tokyo the whole time. I kept in touch with family but I never came back…"

"That's what I thought when I asked Keiichi."

Rena walked to the table, put one hand on the table and look Shion in the eyes.

"Do you want to know what he said?"

Shion glanced at Rena's other hand. She couldn't see it. Why was she hiding it?

"He said he had been with you. You'd told him you were only in for a little and were actually on the way to the airport."

She moved her hidden arm slightly. Shion barely noticed. She got up and moved across the kitchen. Rena wouldn't let her see her back.

Shion opened a drawer and looked inside. _Am I going to need that?_

Shion looked up and quickly saw Rena running towards her. Shion moved aside quickly before Rena could attack her.

"Rena! What are you doing?!?" Shion screamed.

"You are trying to steal my Keiichi!" Rena yelled as she ran again toward Shion.

Shion moved away and went back to the drawer. She took out her taser.

"No one will steal—" Rena was stopped. She fell to the floor, her eyes half-closed.

"Rena, you are a nuisance. I'll make sure you understand the sins you've committed and see if you can fix yourself."

Shion grabbed Rena's legs and dragged her toward the basement.


	4. Chapter 3 Worrisome

Hey! So, I know I haven't written anything in forever and you've probably already forgotten about my story, but here I am. Back to finish it! I hope it's good :) The next (and last? Ooooo the suspense :-P ) will be up tomorrow if everything goes as I plan.

Worrisome

Keiichi gave up. Nine calls and nothing. Not a single answer. He left his phone on the bed.

_Why hasn't she answered?_ he thought.

He continued browsing the internet, which he usually did when he finished cleaning. It was still hard for him though to take his mind off the idea that Rena, and even Shion, could be hurt.

He didn't want to seem odd when it turned out to be nothing, so he tried his best to distract himself.

He tried calling up Mion for a chat but no one answered.

"Okay, this is weird. Mion always answers. It could be the middle of the night and she would answer somehow…" Keiichi said out loud.

Keiichi paced through the house debating what he should do. No one was picking up their phones. Something was wrong. He knew it but what if nothing was wrong at all? What if they all were merely at Mion's house having a good laugh about how Keiichi was frantically calling them? What if he shouldn't be worried at all?

_They're all at Mion's house. I know it. They're at the kitchen table, laughing their heads off about how Keiichi's an idiot and how he's so clingy to Rena! They expect me to go down there and see what's up. They know I'll be at the door in a few seconds. Oh hell, I'm going down there now. I don't care about what they're doing. I'm going._

Keiichi got ready as fast he could and headed straight for Mion's house, where he thought they all were.

"Have you learned?"

"Yes…"

"Has this pain shown you the error of your ways?"

"Yes…"

Rena looked down at her fingers. Or, where her fingers should be.

"Look up!"

Rena did just that.

"I'm going to let you go."

Rena did not know what to think. She was ecstatic but weary. She guessed she had the most confused face at that moment.

_Kick. Stab. Shove._

Rena's body was slammed to the ground with a swift kick followed by a fatal stab. After an inspection, her attacker saw her face was stuck in confusion. Her attacker then put the body in the corner for disposal at a later time. She couldn't deal with it now… there was a knock at the door…

"Oh, Shion! It's nice to see you! What are you doing here?"

"This is my house, isn't it? Well, it's kind of my house anyways. I'm just here visiting my sis. I should be asking the questions. What are you doing here?" Shion asked with a smile.

"Well, I've been calling Rena and you for a while and no one's been picking up. I tried Mion as well and since she didn't pick up, I figured you all were here having girl time."

An awkward silence hit them. Shion broke it with, "You still have said why you're here."

"Well," Keiichi said, scared at Shion's sudden, annoyed tone, "I wanted to make sure everyone was alright."

"You mean, you wanted to make sure Rena was alright."

"Um, yeah, she was one of everyone but so were you and—can I come in?"

"Oh! You're so straightforward. Of course, you know where the kitchen is."

Keiichi headed to the kitchen with Shion behind him. He stopped suddenly at the door.

He asked, "Where are Mion and Rena?"

"Hmm? Oh, they're downstairs in the dungeon place. You know, where there used to be torture thingamajigs? Rena apparently had never been down there, so Mion and I took her down there to show her some things. No big deal. She's down there still probably."

"Oh, well then let's go dow—"

"WHY?!?" screamed Shion. She composed herself and calmly said, "I mean, why not have some tea or something? You must tired after walking here. It is hot about anyway."

"Yeah, a little but not enough to need something to drink. C'mon, let's just go down there."

Keiichi started for the stairs. He expected to be stopped but no hand tugged his shoulder and no words were spoken. He didn't hear any steps follow him.

Turning he said, "You co—"

Unconscious, he tumbled down the stairs. His attacker quietly followed.


	5. Chapter 4 The Only Way

I hope you like it! I worked hard to get it done. To be blunt, it's not exactly as I wanted it and it may be edited someday but enjoy!

________

_I love you._

"Rena, did you find anything cool today?"

"Yeah, but I need your help."

"Is it stuck?"

"Yeah, and it's so cute! I want to take it home!"

"How cute is it?"

_I love you._

"The cutest thing in this junk yard… well, second cutest…"

She blushed. She knew that was cheesy. She knew he knew as well.

"You're…" He inched closer to her. "I just can't…" He inched closer. "That was so cheesy."

They kissed.

Pain ripped Keiichi from his memory. He felt awful pain in his stomach and arms. His sight was blurry and he was somewhat delusional. He could make out some sounds, but nothing that he could make out. Where was he? How long had he been asleep? What actually happened? Did he oversleep? Why hadn't Rena wakened him? He had so many questions that he somehow knew wouldn't be answered.

"Keiichi-kun… are you awake?"

He heard it. Who was speaking?

"Keiichi-kun?"

"Rena?"

"RENA?!? NO!"

Keiichi felt more pain in his left arm. Something had struck him.

"Rena is not here anymore." The speaker laughed softly to herself.

"Who… who…" He could open his eyes slightly. There was blood covering his vision and he had the bad taste of it in his mouth.

"Don't you know who I am?" the voice said sweetly. Was it the same person?  
Keiichi forced his eyes open. There stood Shion. She was dressed nicely in a kimono.

"Shion? What's going on? Where am I?" Keiichi screamed. He tried looking around but couldn't. All his limbs were bound, as was his head.

"Why, you're downstairs, silly. Oh, sometimes you can be so absentminded. Really… Don't you remember anything?" Shion asked with her hands behind her back.

"Well… I remember coming to… well, coming here and we talked a little. Then… Oh! We decided to go downstairs because Mion and Rena were—"

"DON'T SAY THAT NAME!" Shion screamed.

"Shion, calm—"

"I'm not Shion, you stupid boy. I'm Mion. Shion is at her apartment. She's at her table."

"What? She's at her table?" Keiichi couldn't believe what he was hearing. He was beyond confusion.

"Yes, can you guess why? I'll tell you. She's dead. I killed her."

Keiichi was in shock.

"You see, she was in my way. In my way of getting to you. I love you, Keiichi. And I decided that nothing could get in my way. That included her." Mion seemed distant. She seemed like she didn't know where or to whom she talking.

"Mion…why?"

"Loving me is no longer an option Keiichi-kun," Mion said softly, more to herself than to Keiichi.

"Mion…I have…"

_Stab._

"YOU HAVE WHAT?!?" Mion screamed.

Rena's body was silently huddled in the corner. Her fingers were nailed to the wall. _Was she hung from her fingers?_ Keiichi thought. Keiichi figured Mion must have nailed each of the fingers of Rena's right hand to the wall then told her she could leave if she got down… From where Keiichi was, he could see Rena's face. A look of confusion was forever set on her face.

Keiichi started to cry. His love was gone. She had lost everything he had loved about her. She was gone to him and to everyone.

"What are you crying for? Have you come to some realization, Keiichi?" Mion asked nicely.

Her mood was changing very quickly. Keiichi was losing consciousness.

"Mion, why are you doing this… Seeing this is br—"

"Keiichi, you've been talking for too long."

She revealed to him what she had been using. A long dagger. She showed it to him closely. She then slowly carving an M into each palm. Keiichi screamed in pain. He was still crying. Seeing his love in this way, it broke his heart. She was so fragile.

Mion watched silently as Keiichi's head slumped down slightly for his head was still bound. His eyes closed slowly.

"Keiichi, you had feelings for Rena and that got in my way of loving you. I love you with all my heart. I have since you moved here. Everyone was my enemy. It was obvious. I put every hint and tried my best to tell you. All I need is you to notice my girlish side. I am a girl. Much more a girl than the one in the corner. Not to cute now, is she? I love you. I told you. Why don't you respond? I could see your feelings for that girl. You loved her no matter how she treated you. Unconditional love. Yes, I know all about unconditional love. Why did I do this to you, Keiichi? It was to get those awful feelings toward her to leave so that you only had feelings for me."

Mion stopped in thought. She started thinking over everything Keiichi had said.

_"Mion… I have…"_, _"Seeing this is br—"_. What was he saying?

Mion gasped.

She dropped her dagger and slowly turned around. She walked deeper into the dungeon. Towards the ledge. As she approached the ledge, she saw a vision of someone, maybe one of her friends, falling down into the darkness. She saw it like a dream but it had happened. She knew it.

She stepped forward and plunged into the darkness.


End file.
